Psalm 46:4 – There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

Genesis 2:10 – And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

Genesis 2:11 – The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

Genesis 2:12 – And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

Genesis 2:13 – And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

Genesis 2:14 – And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

Hello readers, new blog today, and the phrase from Psalms 46:4 … there is a river.  There has been a river that has run through 2018, a river running through not only this year, but all through history there has been a river, a river just like which ran out of Eden at the start. That river is Jesus Christ, God’s word, the river of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is and what he has done, a river running throughout the world, throughout time, which has been ever present from the start and will be to the end. God’s word says that heaven and earth shall pass away… but his word shall not pass away. All though history at different times, no matter the time, no matter the culture, no matter how dark things are, there has been a river that has run through all of it, a river which when come to and abided by and in produces life and life eternal.

Many people do not go to river, nor stay near the river, but stray from it, they do not drink its pure water. They do not value the river, they do not receive the river, the do not know the river. It’s easy to forget Jesus Christ is God, and that it was him at the beginning. God cannot be seen, understood, comprehended, even thought of, communicated with, conceived, imagined but through the person of Jesus Christ. It was always Jesus Christ, he is the sole connection to God, he is the sole comprehension of God and the things and ways of God. Without Jesus Christ you’ve never heard from God, seen God, comprehended God, understood God, conceived of God. He has been the same from before the beginning to now, and forever after. And he is that river, that consistent stream running through the course of human history. Because he is the origin of every thing that lives, breathes, moves, that is created. It doesn’t matter how remote you are, where you’re from, the culture you’ve been brought up in, that river has run in every person’s life, to be accepted or rejected. Read Psalm 19… there is no excuse for anyone, we all came from the same Creator, we all partake in the same creation, we all have the same law written in our heart, the same knowledge of him… and God knows, and God is the judge, and a just, perfect, pure, holy Judge at that.

We see in Genesis, at the start, that there was a river that went out of Eden, and that parted into four heads. The river parted, it went different directions, into different lands. So the gospel of Jesus Christ is like that river, going forth into each life, and either being accepted and saving and redeeming your life, or a river that flows on by that you never laid hold of. But the river ran. God knows how to reach different people, he knows how to save, he knows what people need to hear, the gospel has gone forth to different lands, nations, tongues, cultures. The Bible says that the gospel has been preached to every creature under heaven. No person is without excuse in this world, God knows who is seeking him, God knows how to communicate, God knows how to save.

Throughout time the river has run, flowing through different times, different hearts, different cultures… and bringing forth very different receptions and results… but nonetheless it ran and it runs. If you read the Bible you see a river, in fact you are at the river, beside the still waters of the pure river of life… you see the river flowing through the pages, through the stories, through the lives, through the doctrine. In John 7:38, Jesus said “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit, which they that believed on him received and do receive… that same river, the Spirit of the livinig God… and you can be a conduit of that river. The river need not just flow past you, it can flow in and through you as you lay hold on it. As you lay hold on the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel, the good news of his life, his death, and his resurrection in your place for you, setting you free from the clutches of this world, sin, the devil, hell and death. King Hezekiah built a pool and a conduit to bring water into the city of David, you can be a builder, someone who makes the way, he makes the conduit through which the water of life can flow. You can bring the river home to you and your family, a river that will sustain you forever. Psalm 23 says that God leadeth me beside the still waters, he restoreth my soul.  Those waters are very stormy, raging, unfriendly waters when you are at enmity with God as an unforgiven, unrepentant sinner, but through Jesus Christ those same waters can be stilled, you can even walk on them as Peter did. In Ezekiel, in the end of days, we read that a river flows out of the temple into the east, into the desert, into the sea, and in Ezekiel 47:7 we read “And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live”.

In Psalm 46:4, our main verse we read that the streams of this river make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. Its so true. We are a tabernacle of God when we get saved, he comes and lives in us, creating a holy place in us, that new creature born of God. It’s why a saved person rejoices in the truth, worships God in their spirit… it’s the river of truth, the river of Jesus Christ, the river of his Holy Spirit making glad those that believe right in their spirit, in their heart. Isaiah 44:3,4 – For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. The river gives life where there was none,  life in the dry and barren desert, those dry bones of Ezekiel have a breath of life breathed into them. Can they live? Yes they can, the dead can live… when the river comes. God pours water on the dry ground. We are that dry, barren, unbroken ground. But we can live, and we can be made glad forevermore in our spirit and heart, receiving forgiveness and every spiritual gift from on High. Without being born again, you cannot know all this. You don’t yet know this verse. We are all spiritually dead before we get saved, but hearing the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, who is he and what he has done, and taking personal ownership of it for ourselves personally… that makes us alive, it makes us very glad inside. Alive is only found in Christ. We need that breath of life, that spirit blowing into our life and making us alive. And when we have that, that is a constant stream in our life, a fountain, a well of water, that sustains us forever. Just as Jesus said in John 3 to the Samaritan woman at the well. The water of life is a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Where do the rivers come from? The river comes from Jesus Christ. Because he IS the river. The water that flowed from Jesus side is the most pure water of all time. Water and blood, the cure for sin, he saved us, redeemed us, gave us life eternal. David could write, so many years before Jesus Christ was physically born into this world of a woman… that there is a river, because he knew the river, he had been to the river, and settled beside it’s still waters, even when his life was flaming wreckage. Because the river isn’t you, it’s Jesus Christ… we fail, we sin… it’s no excuse, but a reality. But that’s why God provided for us, providing his Son, God himself in the flesh, to live for us, die for us, and arise from the dead to live evermore… and he invites you to partake in that. All it takes is the hearing of faith. In 2018, the river ran, and it will run again, because it is an eternal river. Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. The river ran, the river runs, the river will run forever.

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